Showing support for one's favorite team is an engrossing part of any sports fan's regular routine. People advertise their support of different teams and players, a behavior which allows an ardent fan to develop a specific personal relationship with the involved team. All types of different promotional ephemera related to sporting teams have developed as a result of this infatuation, from giant foam fingers and banded sports jerseys to posters and bobble head dolls honoring prolific players. Tuning into the pervading ethic of one's team is a great way to find recognition in an existent community and to encourage one's family, friends and coworkers to get on the bandwagon. Supporting a local team is an important part of integrating oneself into a community at large. As cheering on sports teams during regular events is an important part of the social fabric in many different communities, participation in this regular exuberance is an emotionally beneficial pastime for all manner of committed fans.
Celebrating scoring is perhaps the most exuberant part of any sports fanaticism. Whenever a favored team manages to secure one or more points, its fans are programmed to celebrate with one another in the stands or in front of their television sets at home. Further encouragement like fireworks, sirens, flashing lights and other distractions are built right into the fabric of the game, encouraging an attitude of rampant celebration whenever scoring occurs. This persistent stimulation leads fans to embrace all manner of useful devices capable of further broadcasting their ebullient exhilaration to everyone in the local vicinity. From compressed air powered horns to large and gaudy banners, these devices help to reinforce the attitude that winning is everything and the selected team is ultimately destined to win. Encouraging fan participation in goal celebrations is an important part of inculcating a codependent relationship between players and fans. Every professional sports team benefits from encouraging greater and more effervescent celebration by its supporters whenever a goal is secured.
The present invention, hereinafter referred to as the Touchdown Belt, provides dedicated fans with a simple and effective accessory to broadcast their celebration upon witnessing a scoring. Wearing a Touchdown Belt emits a spectacular light and sound show to all members within the wearer's immediate vicinity. The Touchdown Belt provides an appealing and visible way for sports fans to show support for their selected team and to vibrantly participate in post goal or post game celebrations. The Touchdown Belt incorporates the latest in modern light emitting diode and sound technology to ensure that fan celebration is easily and effectively broadcast to anyone in visible range.
The prior art has put forth several designs for light emitting accessories. U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,206 to Claude Deutsch describes an electrically controlled optical display apparatus for embellishing or decorating a design on a garment. A removable display apparatus has lamps and electrical connectors disposed in a composite removable patch on an inside the garment. The lamps project outside the garment and are held by elastic clamping members surrounding the luminous heads of the lamps.
US Patent to 2005/0030612 to Shunpei Yamazaki and Noriko Shibata describes a process of successively forming from an EL layer, a cathode, a barrier layer and a cover layer in the same multi chamber. The EL layer, cathode, barrier layer and cover layer are formed in the same multi chamber in succession by using a same film deposition method to form the EL layer and the cover layer. A sealed structure of an EL element is formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,942,543 to Michael Larry Ritter describes a light emitting head accessory including an array of light emission devices positioned on a front surface of a strip of flexible material, a logic circuit, a power source, and an input device. The logic circuit is connected to the array of light emission devices and programmed to create arrangements on the array of light emission devices by illuminating a plurality of light emission devices in the array of light emission devices. The power source provides power to the array of light emission devices and the logic circuit. The input device is connected to and instructs the logic circuit to display various arrangements on the array of light emission devices.
Although presumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices and proposals do not present a wearable accessory, such as a belt, having a plurality of lights and control circuitry capable of selectively energizing the lights in selected patterns or include sound capabilities when energized. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a spectator celebration system having one or a plurality of wearable celebration devices each having lights and a speaker in communication with a controller under manual control via an electrically connected toggle switch. Further, it would be desirable to have a spectator celebration system having a plurality of celebration devices, each having a receiver configured to receive an activation signal from a remote transmitter, respective controllers being configured to energize respective lights and sound on respective celebration devices simultaneously upon receiving the activation signal.